(Bloomberg) -- The German government is in the early stages of preparing to sell a big block of shares in utility Uniper SE, according to people familiar with the matter, unwinding a historic nationalization at the height of the energy crisis.

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Initial talks with potential advisers are under way, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private. The government may offer the stake late this year or in 2025, one of the people said.

The government owns more than 99% of Uniper after recapitalizing the company in 2022, when the biggest German buyer of Russian gas was at the epicenter of the crisis sparked by Moscow’s moves to cut energy flows in retaliation for war-related sanctions. Germany was under pressure to act as the company’s failure could have threatened fuel supplies, with ripple effects through Europe’s largest economy.

A spokesperson for the Finance Ministry declined to comment. A Uniper representative noted that, in approving the rescue that foresaw up €34.5 billion in state aid, the European Commission required Germany to cut its stake to 25% or less by the end of 2028.

The representative declined to comment further, but said the company remains in constant dialogue with the German government.

Uniper is still listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, but with most of the shares in government hands, an average of less than €1 million of stock has traded each day over the past three months. That’s why market participants consider a share sale like the one Germany is considering to essentially be a fresh initial public offering, or “re-IPO.”

Read more: Germany’s Uniper Updates Profit as Hedging Pays Off



In a placement, shares would probably be priced at a discount to Uniper’s current market value of €23.7 billion, some of the people said. Uniper shares fell 5.0% to €54.90 at 1:47 p.m. Wednesday in Frankfurt.

For the government, selling shares in Uniper would provide an influx of cash after the country plunged into a budget crisis sparked by a verdict by the nation’s top court in November.

A placement also would be more fuel for the shaky rebound in European equity capital markets. About $4.4 billion has been raised in IPOs, follow-on offerings, stake sales and rights issues this year in Western Europe, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, up 61% from the same period in 2023.

--With assistance from Petra Sorge and Swetha Gopinath.

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